Review and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 9. (2/27/1900)

Review and Herald

Feb 27, 1900

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 27, 1900

THE PARABLE OF THE TWO SONS.

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE.

The history of Israel as presented in this parable should be studied by all who would practice the teachings of Christ. The vineyard represents the church. The two sons are the two classes of men and women in the world. The Lord calls every member of the church to work in his vineyard. We are to understand our relation to Christ. Christ must abide in our hearts that we may keep before us pure principles, high incentives to moral rectitude. Our work is not merely to promise but to do. Honesty and integrity must bind us up with God to fulfill his word to the letter.

Christ did not condemn the first son for refusing to obey his father’s command. At the same time he did not commend him. The class who act the part of the son who said, I will not, deserve no credit for holding the position they do. This openness is not to be commended as a virtue. Sanctified by truth and holiness, this element will make a man a bold witness for Christ; but used as it is by the sinner, it is insulting and defiant, and approaches to blasphemy. The fact that a man is not a hypocrite does not make him any less a sinner. When the appeals of the Spirit of God come to the heart, our only safety lies in responding to them without delay. When the call comes, “Son, go work to-day in my vineyard,” do not refuse the invitation. Cease working on the enemy’s side, and take your position under the blood-stained banner of the Prince of life. He is the way, the truth, and the life. While it is called to-day, “if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” It may be that you will never hear the invitation again. A mere answer in the affirmative is not enough. We are to repent and forsake every sin, and work the works of righteousness. Will the sinner acknowledge God’s claims? Will he serve the Lord, or will he continue in sin?

By pledging his own life, Christ has made himself responsible for every man and woman on the earth. He stands in the presence of God, saying, Father, I take upon myself the guilt of that soul. It means death to him if he is left to bear it. If he repents, he shall be forgiven. My blood shall cleanse him from all sin. I gave my life for the sins of the world.

If the transgressor of God’s law will see in Christ his atoning sacrifice, if he will believe in him who can cleanse from all unrighteousness, Christ will not have died for him in vain. By giving himself a sacrifice for sin, Christ has given opportunity to every sinner to repent and be converted, and become a laborer together with God.

Self-righteousness is not true righteousness, and those who cling to it, and refuse to give it up, will be left to take the consequences of holding to a deception. Those who claim to keep the commandments of God, but are unsympathetic and cold, self-important and self-centered, have not the love of God in their hearts to flow forth to others. They say, “I go, sir,” but they do not go. The open sinner has far better prospects of gaining eternal life than have these pretentious ones. He who sees himself as a sinner, with no cloak for his sin, who sees that he is corrupting soul, body, and spirit before God, becomes alarmed lest he be eternally separated from the kingdom of heaven. He realizes his diseased condition, and finds healing in Christ, who has promised, “Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” God puts upon the repenting one the robe of Christ’s righteousness, and the angels of heaven rejoice over the one soul saved.

No man can accept the gospel of Christ while he refuses the admonitions of the word of God, and follows a way of his own choosing. “Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin. That walk to go down into Egypt, and that have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt! Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion.” Will there be among the people of God in these last days those who pursue a course of action similar to that of rebellious Israel? Will those who have had privileges and opportunities, and before whom the Lord has worked in a marked manner, oppose righteousness? Shall there be among us those described by the prophet as “rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord: which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophecy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits. Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us”?

The Lord calls upon his people in 1900 to be converted. Great light has come to them, but the principles of the word of God have not been carried into the practical life. If pride and selfishness and covetousness are not eradicated from the heart, they will poison every lifespring of the soul, and true liberality and Christian courtesy can not be exercised. The attributes of the unrenewed heart are cherished. The Lord can not purify the soul until the entire being is surrendered to the working of the Holy Spirit.

Only those who eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God, can understand the Word to the saving of their souls. “The flesh profiteth nothing,” Christ said; “the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” No man can read the word of God, believing it to be inspired of God, without himself catching the inspiration of the Spirit that inspired the Word. A glory will flash before his eyes. He will learn the mysteries of heaven. Perfect obedience to the Word will bring a sweetness, an assurance and confidence in God, that can not be described.

It is right for us to love the Scriptures. We have for a teacher One who will mold and

fashion our hearts and minds to understand the Word in its true light. If we will practice the truth, at whatever self-denial and self-sacrifice, we shall follow on to know the Lord, and we shall know that his goings forth are prepared as the morning. The Bible may be read in such a way as to glorify God. Not one word that has proceeded from the mouth of God will become void until prophecy becomes history, as in the case of the sacrificial offerings that prefigured Christ. Type met antitype in the death of the Son of God. In the cross of Calvary we may read the binding claims of the law of God. God could not change one iota of his law to meet man in his fallen condition; but he “so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Those who venture to disregard the claims of the law of God may read their condemnation in the cross of Calvary. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. That which distinguishes God’s people from every other people is their obedience to the commandments.

Christ had educated the Israelites while he was their invisible leader in the wilderness. For forty years he had addressed them as his sons, and had commanded them to teach every requirement of the law, both by precept and by example. He taught them that their prosperity and their very life depended on their obedience to all he had given in statutes and judgments. They were to be righteous in all their transactions one with another. It would make every difference with them whether they were obedient or disobedient; for God could not sustain them in transgression.

The children of Israel made a solemn vow to God that they would be obedient; but they disregarded the Lord’s requirements. Some remained loyal to God, but the majority disregarded the Word. They set the law of God at defiance, and taught for doctrines the commandments of men. Because of their transgression, the Lord was about to divorce himself from the disobedient nation. He had spoken to them through the prophets, and through Christ, the great teacher, the light of the world. If they desired to do right, the way was plainly revealed to them.

They had before them the example of Nadab and Abihu. The disobedience of these men cost them their lives. Through the use of wine their senses became confused, and they used the common fire instead of the sacred. They were slain before the Lord. Moses looked with agony of soul upon their punishment. He said to Aaron, “This is it that the Lord spake, saying, I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified.”

God forbade any manifestation of grief for Nadab and Abihu, even on the part of their nearest relatives, “lest ye die,” he said, “and lest wrath come upon all the people: but let your brethren, the whole house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord hath kindled.”

There is a lesson to learn from this by all who have anything to do with God’s work. They are required to observe habits of strict temperance, to keep soul, body, and spirit under the protecting shield of God. Never tempt the Spirit of God. This has often led to the sin against the Holy Ghost, which has no forgiveness in this life nor in the life to come. Bear in mind that we shall reap that which we sow, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Those who sow to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption.

In our day we see the power of the adversary upon the human mind. Many professing godliness openly transgress the law of God. In every congregation there is a mixed multitude. Those who claim to be righteous, while they do not those things that God has commanded, are like the self-righteous Pharisees. They say, and do not. And, like the Pharisees, they stand aloof from their fellow men. Christ gives us the test by which we prove our loyalty or disloyalty. “If ye love me,” he says, “keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world can not receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. . . . He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. . . . If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.” “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.”

WEIGHED IN THE BALANCE.

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE.

METHOUGHT I stood, one well-remembered night, Beside a being clad in robes of light. She held a balance in her mighty hand; I stood astonished at her stern command: “Thou shalt be weighed with all thy deeds,” she cried, “With justice only on the other side.”

Methought I smiled,— a calm, complacent smile,— Thinking of all my virtuous deeds the while,— Thinking how high upon the scroll of fame The church and world had each inscribed my name,— Thinking, the while, with spirit puffed with pride, How vast the weight against the justice side!

I stepped upon the balances, and drew, Close to my side, within the angel’s view, A ponderous weight, and proudly smiled to see How plain the roll was labeled CHARITY. “Seest thou, O angel,” smilingly I said, “How oft the poor and needy I have fed?”

Then to my side I gathered, one by one, The pompous record of good deeds I’d done,— The gold and silver I had given to sound Christ’s glorious gospel to earth’s farthest bound, The kind words spoken, and the good deeds done. With growing pride I viewed them one by one.

“Now, angel, I am ready.” Quick she raised The mighty balances; I stood amazed! Lighter than foam upon the billowy sea, Light as the vapor, light as vanity, My boasted record, and of nothing worth The pompous work that I had wrought on earth.

Livid with fear, in agony I cried: “O Christ of Calvary! haste to my side! One drop of precious blood shall far outweigh My noblest deed: stand by my side, I pray. A humble worm, I helpless cling to thee; O Friend of sinners, hear my earnest plea.”

I raised my eyes: close standing by my side I felt the presence of the Crucified; And in my love and rapturous joy, I heard The angel with the balance speak the word: “Justice is satisfied; thy prayer avails; The mighty cross of Calvary prevails.”

DO YOU BELIEVE IN THE VIRGIN MARY?

By W. S. Sadler

W. S. SADLER.

(Chicago, Ill.)

Do you believe in the Virgin Mary? Do you entertain the idea that some one must intercede with Christ for you? Do you fear to come, as it were, directly into the presence of Christ and God?

Many readers of the REVIEW will no doubt be surprised to have such questions asked them. You are sure that you do not believe in the necessity of having the Virgin Mary, some saint, or any other person, to intercede with Christ in your behalf. The great truth of the mediatorship of Christ has been so terribly perverted in these last days that many congratulate themselves on being free from these errors of Catholicism, etc., who are daily bringing to themselves much perplexity and spiritual darkness because of the fact that they are not free from the erroneous principles that cause the Virgin Mary to occupy the place she does in the Catholic mind.

This entire system of “intercession” has its origin in the perverted and distorted ideas that are entertained of God and of Christ. In the average mind, the name of God causes thoughts of a great, stern, arbitrary personage, who is ever watching for an opportunity to accuse man, and get him into trouble, and then punish him for the trouble he has got into. By the average mind, God is not understood to represent all that is good, and merciful, and lovely. He is thought to be an austere ruler. And it is because of these wrong ideas about God that we have come to think of Christ as a mediator to intercede with God in behalf of men.

This is one of Satan’s colossal errors and masterly deceptions. Christ did not die to make God willing to save men. Read Rom. 3:25, 26. “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” This clearly indicates that Christ died to make it right for God to save men, and not to make God willing to exercise his own infinite attribute of love in behalf of the sinner.

Supposing the Son to be like the Father, men have come to look upon Christ in the same way that they have regarded his Father, —as unsympathetic, exacting, and unapproachable. Consequently, this view of God and Christ necessitated the provision of the Virgin Mary and the various other associated ideas, in order for men to be able to approach Christ, whom the Bible represents as man’s mediator with God.

The practical question for each one is this: Do I believe with my whole heart and accept the great truth that Christ alone stands between me and God? or do I have something in my theology, or in my experience, which practically and literally stands between me and Christ. Is it my own good works that I have come to regard as my intercessor with Christ?

Do you feel that you can not come just as you are, when you have sinned, or have discovered iniquity in your heart? Do you feel that you must get rid of your sinful nature, fix it up as it were, and get right with God, before you can come to Christ? Do you not see that depending upon anything but simple faith, makes that thing, whatever it may be, to occupy a place in your religion identical with that which the Virgin Mary occupies in the Catholic religion? Do not allow your good works, so called, to get between you and Christ.

Many regard and depend upon the prayers of righteous persons with the same reverence that Catholics look upon the Virgin Mary. They feel that if Brother or Sister So-and-so could only pray for them, all would be well. They doubt that Christ hears their own plaintive plea, but they are sure that the prayer of another will open the ears of Christ to their need. Oh, no; they don’t believe that it is necessary for the Virgin Mary, or some canonized saint who is dead, to intercede in their behalf; but they do believe that some saint who is alive is a real necessity in order to have Christ interest himself in their need or distress.

Dear reader, do you see this? Do you not see that if you recognize not the divine right and privilege of every one of God’s creatures to come directly to him at all times, and under all circumstances, you admit the principle of the necessity of man’s having an intercessor to intercede with Christ in man’s behalf? The infinite mind is eternal—changeless. Of him it is written, “With whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Prayer changes the one who prays, and thus brings him into harmony with the divine mind, making it possible for God to bestow his blessings upon the praying one without compromising his own character or that of his government.

Brother, sister, permit nothing to come between you and Christ. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus; and when you pray, realize that it is the merits of Jesus, and Jesus alone, that make it right for you thus to approach the living God. And always remember that it is not because of God’s hatred of you that it is necessary to approach him through Christ. God loves you, although he hates your sin. In Christ we have a sinless representative, who is fully acquainted with every human need, temptation, and trial. Jesus needs not that any one should tell him of man’s trials and difficulties. He himself walked upon this earth in the likeness of sinful flesh, and learned obedience by the things which he suffered. Permit nothing, then, for any reason whatever, to come between you and the Son of God, our elder brother. In coming to God we are simply to believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

So, do not allow either your supposed good works or the good works of any other person, saint or sinner, to come between you and Christ, who is man’s only mediator.

The Name by Which We Are Saved

“THERE is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

THE MEANING OF THE MISSIONARY READING CIRCLE.

By A. T. Jones

A. T. JONES.

(Concluded.)

There is another warning in the book of Daniel, in these lessons that you are studying,—the history of Belshazzar. Belshazzar was the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar had longed for God, had found God, had become a true worshiper of God, and was saved by the Lord, as any other saint. Belshazzar knew all this,—all people, indeed, knew it; for it was published over and over. When Daniel made known to Nebuchadnezzar the dream that gave him the knowledge of God, that knowledge went to all people. When Nebuchadnezzar set up his image, and the brethren would not worship it, then that was spread among all the people of all the world at that time; for all the governors, the captains, the princes, and the sheriffs were there to see it all; and when they went back to their provinces, they carried it with them, and the fame of it spread everywhere. When Nebuchadnezzar wrote out his own experience, that was sent in a public decree to all the peoples, nations, and languages; it was read to them by the governors; so the message of God came to all the people again and again.

Now Belshazzar knew all this; but he paid no attention to it. He did not glorify God, though he knew all this. And because of that, because he passed it all by and acted in defiance of it all, he was weighed in the balances then, was found wanting, was set aside, and he, with Babylon, perished.

And it is the truth, and you know it, that there are not only grandchildren, but even children of Seventh-day Adventists who know all this that God did for Nebuchadnezzar, as really as Belshazzar knew it. There are children and grandchildren who have been taught all this from their infancy, and have come up now to the age of young manhood and young womanhood, who, though they know all this as really as did Belshazzar, also despise it all as really as did he. These now do not fear God, nor glorify him in whose hand is their life, and from whom they get their breath every day. Their parents taught them these things when they were small. They understood it then, and they have been under the teaching of it all these years. And now that they have reached the age of young manhood and young womanhood, they despise it as did Belshazzar. And they are the Belshazzars of to-day. And that which came to the Belshazzar of that day will come to the Belshazzars of to-day.

Any one who knows these things that came to Nebuchadnezzar, and acts an old Belshazzar in view of these things that he knows came to Nebuchadnezzar, that person is a Belshazzar; and that which came to the other Belshazzar will come to him. And we are now in the time when these Belshazzars are being weighed in the balances and found wanting. And you know that that is so. Then what is the next thing?—After the weighing of the Belshazzars and the finding of them wanting, the next thing another kingdom comes in. It was Medo-Persia that took the kingdom then. There is another kingdom to come in now too, thank the Lord; and it is the kingdom of God,—the kingdom which shall stand forever, and shall not be given to other people.

And there is where we are on that phase of the subject. And this is another illustration of the deep and solemn meaning of the Missionary Reading Circle, as it comes to families from week to week. And surely it reveals that we are in a time that calls upon all to awake out of sleep as never before in the history of this people. It is a call from God to this whole people to awake and study these things, read the literature, and then spread it abroad to all people, in these days when everything is going with swiftness, and when, of all things, the work of God requires haste.

There is one other item in this connection, to which I must call your attention; and that is the character that stood through all this, and was ready for each step of God’s truth as it came, all the way along. At the beginning of the book of Daniel you find a young man of integrity of principle, who takes his stand upon principle, and stands there. There were three others who stood with him. At the next step in the progress of God’s message to the people at that time, you find these four young men faithful, learning from God, and explaining to the king, the king’s dream. The next step was the test of the three young men, in the face of a fiery furnace, and they were still found faithful. The next step was Nebuchadnezzar’s experience; and Daniel must be called to explain that, and he is equal to the occasion still. He is awake to the time, and can give the message of God upon the hour. The next step is Belshazzar’s test. The king’s character and his failure are to be revealed, and the nation is to sink into everlasting ruin: and there is that same man; and he is ready on the hour with the message of God for the hour. And he gave the message.

Then there came yet another test after that, when Daniel was tested over and over, we know not how long. He was systematically spied upon. A trap was set for him by a set of schemers, who were ready to take any advantage, or create any advantage, by which they might accomplish their purpose to discredit him and break him down. A large number of them set themselves to spy upon him day by day, to see whether they could not find some fault with him concerning the business of the kingdom. But when they had done everything they could, when they had examined every place, and every particle of business of a mighty world-empire, they were compelled to confess that there was neither error nor fault that could be found—no error in the business, and no fault in the man.

And that is the kind of character that God calls for to-day. Such character alone can stand in this time, in this last Babylon, in this time when God would make known his truth to the nations, in this time of being weighed in the balances and found wanting.

Daniel was weighed in the balances every day. He put himself in the balances before God every day, and held himself before God, in God’s balances every day, and had God’s judgment passed upon him every day; so whenever the time came for him or anybody else to be weighed in the balances, he was not afraid to go into the balances. He had put himself into the balances, and against himself and all that he was, and all that he ever could have had, he had put the merit of Jesus Christ; and when that was there, there was no weight of sin or anything else that could overbalance that: he was perfectly secure.

While these men were thus systematically conspiring against Daniel, and continually spying upon him, looking suspiciously into every piece of business, and narrowly and with prejudice examining every record with which Daniel was in any way connected, or for which he was in any way responsible, how do you suppose Daniel took it? Do you suppose that Daniel set on foot any arrangement or any scheme to shut that off, or to oppose it, for fear they would discover some fault, or that they might find something that was wrong? Do you think he did? Was Daniel afraid that they would find something wrong?—No. In all this Daniel did simply as he did aforetime. He was not afraid that they would find something wrong.

This is not to say that Daniel had proudly set himself up, and said, There is nothing wrong in me. I am perfect. I am infallible. Not at all. But Daniel was so thoroughly in earnest, so thoroughly honest, so thoroughly just, that he would have been just as glad of the discovery of an error as any enemy in all the land could be. He was always trying to find just such a thing as that himself: and that is how he escaped them all. So if they had found any error, he would have been glad of it, and would have said, All right, we will correct that instantly. And I thank you for pointing it out.

That was Daniel, and that is the kind of business men God wishes in these last days. He is calling for them now in every institution, everywhere among all Seventh-day Adventists throughout the world. And any one in charge of business who is not of that kind, any one who pretends to be a business man and is not of that sort, is not Daniel’s sort, and he is not the kind that God is calling for. If there is any one in charge of business anywhere throughout all the ranks of Seventh-day Adventists, who would not be glad to have anybody in the wide world, even a prejudiced, conspiring enemy, point out a mistake, or detect an error, or discover a fault, in the way that business is conducted—any one, I say, who is not glad to have that done is not fit for that place, and is not a Christian business man at all.

And that is what Daniel’s business character is put in that book for. It is drawn out thus, and is set before you and me in all its details, and brought down to us in these last days, in order that in these times when God wishes men whom he can trust anywhere, who will be ready to give the Third Angel’s Message at any point that may arise, at any crisis that may come, he may find us ready on the instant to give the message of God, ready on the instant to stand whatever test the enemies or friends, God or man, may put upon us.

That is the kind of character alone that will stand in these days and in these fearful times in which we are: I do not say to which we are coming; but in which we are.

Is it not high time that we were doing missionary work? Is it not high time that we, each one of us, were in that place where Daniel stood before God,—weighed daily in the balances, and not found wanting, because of the merit of Jesus Christ, which is our only hope?

This is simply what the Third Angel’s Message is—“the hour of his judgment is come.” And when the message says that the hour of his judgment is come, as certainly as I believe that message, I believe that the hour of his judgment

is come to me. And as certainly as I believe that the hour of his judgment is come to me, so certainly will I enter into that judgment, and put myself into the balances to be weighed. I will put myself into the balances of God, the balances of the sanctuary. I will put myself there in the righteousness and fullness of merit of Jesus Christ, who is the “minister of the sanctuary” himself. He who holds the balances knows all the fullness and richness of the merit of the Lord Jesus. And when Jesus Christ’s merit is found there in my behalf, I am not afraid to put myself into the balances; for I know that I shall not be found wanting; for he presents me “faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy;” he presents me “holy and unblamable and unreprovable” in the sight of God. His merit is able to take away every sin, to make complete atonement, and to save to the uttermost every soul who comes to God by him. Bless his name.

And so, in the very nature of things, it is only such a character as Daniel’s was, such as Jesus Christ’s is, that we must have to-day. That is the only thing that will win; that is the only thing that will carry us through, and make us ready for each crisis as it comes.

Then may such study be given to the Missionary Reading Circle as never was given by Seventh-day Adventists before. And may it be attended with such earnestness and such devotion that the blessing of God may come upon each one; for now is the time when this word must go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. We are on the verge of the days when life is to be given to the image of the beast by the very machinery that has been created for this time. May the Lord save his people from the mistakes that Israel made of old. May we awake and give to the world that which God has given to us to give to the world, even while there is yet a little time of quietness and of comparative peace. May we gather from the study of the book of Daniel the principles that will make manifest in us the character of Daniel, so that we shall be ready for every test and every crisis, as was Daniel.

THE BAPTISM BY FIRE.

By A. Smith

A. SMITH.

(Grandville, Mich.)

“He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” Matt. 3 : 11. The baptism with fire is a complete immersion in that element. The term “fire” is here used both in a literal and in a symbolic sense. As a symbol, it is indicative of afflictions and trials, by which all God’s people are tested and purified.

God said of Jacob, who was a representative of all Israel, “I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.” Isa. 48 : 10. Of Jesus the Father testifies, “He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” Mal. 3 : 3. The heat of the furnace separates the dross from the pure metal until the silver reflects the image of the refiner.

At a certain brickyard I noticed the burning of the kiln. At first the wood was shoved only a little way into the arches, and it emitted a great deal of smoke; but as the heat became intense, the wood was shoved to the center of the arches, where it burned with a white, clear flame, and emitted no smoke.

When God’s people are placed in the furnace of affliction to try them, the smoke of complaints and murmurs often arises until the heart is melted by the intensity of the trial, and the smoke is all consumed. “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” 1 Peter 4 : 12, 13.

LIFE INSURANCE.

By O. A. Johnson

O. A. JOHNSON.

I PRESUME nearly every person in this country who has arrived at manhood, has been urged to have his life insured, either for his own benefit or for the benefit of his family. No doubt you have heard some plausible arguments, to say the least, in favor of life insurance. Now it is not my intention to consider these arguments, nor to answer them particularly. But I wish to offer some Bible evidence against the principle of life insurance.

No person would for a moment think of undertaking to insure property that he did not own, nor would any insurance company insure property on any such condition. Now God says, to his children, “What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price.” 1 Cor. 6 : 19, 20. Now what right have we to insure our bodies when God has bought them, and when they are the temple of the Holy Ghost? They belong to God. Hence we have no right to insure them.

If we are Christians, we shall live the life of Christ, and not our own. Paul says, “I am crucified: . . . nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Gal. 2 : 20. Now what right have I to insure the life of another, much less the life of Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world? Can not God take care of his own temple, and can not Christ keep and preserve his own life? If so, what right have we to insure our bodies—God’s temple? or our lives, which Christ lives in us if we are truly the children of God? Does it not really seem unreasonable, yes, even wicked, to distrust God’s care for his own to that degree that we must go to the world to insure our lives?

Adventists should not engage in life insurance. This is a commerce with the world which God does not approve. Those who engage in this enterprise are uniting with the world, while God calls his people to come out from among them, and to be separate. Said the angel, “Christ has purchased you by the sacrifice of his life. What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God; and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God; when Christ who is your life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Here is the only life insurance which Heaven sanctions.

Life insurance is a worldly policy, which leads our brethren who engage in it to depart from the simplicity and purity of the gospel. Every such departure weakens our faith and lessens our spirituality. Said the angel, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” As a people we are in a special sense the Lord’s. Christ has bought us. Angels that excel in strength surround us. Not a sparrow falls to the ground without the notice of our Heavenly Father. Even the hairs of our head are numbered. God has made provision for his people. He has a special care for them, and they should not distrust his providence by engaging in a policy with the world.

God designs that we should preserve in simplicity and holiness our peculiarity as a people. Those who engage in this worldly policy invest means which belong to God, which he has intrusted to them to use in his cause to advance his work. But few will realize any returns from life insurance, and without God’s blessing even these will prove an injury instead of a benefit. Those whom God has made his stewards have no right to place in the enemy’s ranks the means which he has intrusted to them to use in his cause.—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. I, pages 549, 550.

A PRAYER.

By Geo. W. Dithridge

ALMIGHTY GOD! with pitying love Look on us from thy throne above. Into our hearts thy grace instill; Teach us, O God, to do thy will.

Infinite God! thy sacred law From all thy works we still may draw; Yet help us, Lord, to read aright That which is seen with fainter light.

All-potent God! we pray for light To gild the gloom of error's night; Oh, grant us power to backward roll Its darkness from the human soul.

O Lord, our God! we thee implore, Keep us from sin forever more; Oh, haste the hour when truth's bright ray Shall usher in undying day.

All-seeing God! wher e'er we stray, Direct our steps in wisdom's way; And through the night, while wrapped in sleep, Till morning's dawn our spirits keep.

Eternal God! we humbly bow With fluttering hope before thee now; Thy goodness here with joy we trust; Oh, be thou near, when “dust to dust.”

— Geo. W. Dithridge.

PEN PICTURES.

By William P. Pearce

WILLIAM P. PEARCE.

“ARE not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? Ye are of more value than many sparrows.” Luke 12: 6, 7. Last summer, while crossing the lawn that lies between the parsonage and the church of which I am pastor, my attention was attracted by a fluttering sparrow near the top of the church roof. One glance revealed the fact that the little bird was hanging by the neck. Some time before, a knot in the board had fallen out, and the sparrow, prospecting for a new home, or chasing some fly, had thrust its head into this hole, and was unable to draw it out again. My sympathies were quickly aroused. No ladder would reach; the roof was too steep to climb; and no assistance could be given. I called a gardener who was working near by, and we tied several poles together; but the length caused them to bend, and, in utter despair, we were forced to cease our efforts for the sparrow's salvation. My neighbor laughed. “‘Tis only a sparrow,” said he. “It would be a good thing if all of them could be hung.” Would it? Let such an experiment be tried, and how our trees would suffer!

Well, one hour passed, then two, then four, then five, and still at intervals the poor bird fluttered, bringing about it other sparrows who seemed bent on its rescue. At last, after six hours of struggling, with a circle of blood around that hole, it died. That afternoon I had to conduct a child's funeral. This incident was opportune. The lesson of God's attention and love comforted the bereaved; and will it not comfort us?

Think of Father's word, Father's care, Father's disapproval of those who slaughter the innocents—“our little brothers of the air.” Is it not a shame that, besides the slaughter of the common birds, twenty-five million of the beautiful kind are sacrificed to supply personal adornment? In God's name, I protest. For their Creator's sake let us all protest, thanking God for the lesson that, in spite of the sparrows' cheapness, and their awful destruction, not one escapeth the eye of His Majesty; and that we, who are worth many sparrows, are not forgotten nor neglected by him. Well can we sing, with Isaac Watts,—

“Within thy circling power I stand; On every side I find thy hand; Awake, asleep, at home, abroad, I am surrounded still with God.”

MY PRAYER.

By John G. Whittier

If there be some weaker one, Give me strength to help him on; If a blinder soul there be, Let me guide him nearer Thee. Make my mortal dreams come true With the work I fain would do; Clothe with life the weak intent; Let me be the thing I meant. Let me find in thy employ Peace that dearer is than joy; Out of self to love be led, And to heaven acclimated, Until all things sweet and good Seem my nature's habitude. —John G. Whittier.

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